The Value of Unity Among God's People
The Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do." — Genesis 11:6
Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. — 1 Corinthians 1:10
Author
Milagros García Klibansky
Summary: Division destroys relationships and families; that is why we must safeguard the unity of God's people. In Christ, we form one body, guided by the Spirit, in which every member matters and has a role. No act of service, however humble it may seem, should be looked down upon. Leaders are called to set an example of humility and service, not to seek a position of privilege. We are called to care for one another, share in suffering, and rejoice with those who receive honor. Just as Nehemiah brought the people together to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, unity enables us to work together for God's purposes. Let us remain united and support one another according to his will.
There is a popular saying: “Divide and conquer.” Many of us who spent our school years in boarding schools in Cuba (as scholarship students) had to put it into practice in a desperate attempt to survive, without realizing that we were part of a Dantesque plan whose consequences endure to this day.
Divorced couples, broken homes, children without parents—the list grows longer every day as a result of the breakdown of the family, the fundamental unit of society. But this situation extends to other areas of our lives and human relationships.
Those of us who have been blessed to know Christ are part of the family of God. The whole church is one great body, of which Christ is the head. (1 Corinthians 12:12) We have a life of our own and the guidance of the Spirit; all the members are important, and each must fulfill the function for which they were appointed, because the work of God is everyone’s responsibility.
No body can function if each organ decides to act independently; all must be connected to one another to achieve harmony. (Romans 12:5) Every part of the body of Christ matters, and no one is diminished by doing any kind of work, even ordinary work. (1 Corinthians 12:22–23).
I have seen the work of some brothers and sisters belittled, though they serve the Lord with love by doing the humblest tasks. Yet it was precisely among such humble people that Christ lived during his ministry, as the Word says in 1 Corinthians 1:28: “God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to bring to nothing the things that are.”
The highest-ranking leaders ought to be the humblest servants in a church, because God chose them to show the flock the attitude a Christian called to serve others should have. They must be examples, and they are not placed there to receive but to give, “so that there may be no division in the body, but that its members may care equally for one another. If one member suffers, the others share in its suffering; and if one member receives honor, the others rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:25–26).
We thank God because, although there are leaders among God’s people who believe that leadership places them in an eminent position that entitles them to an elite status, there are also many servants of God today who let none of this hinder their work. They carry it out with a positive spirit and great enthusiasm, willing to go beyond what their strength allows because they persevere as though seeing the Invisible One. (Hebrews 11:27)
If anyone saw firsthand what a united people could accomplish, it was Nehemiah. He brought God’s people together in a work serving divine purposes: rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem from their ruins.
The New Testament church is an indissoluble unity; we cannot lose sight of this. As the apostle Paul said: “…He is the head of the body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:18).
We are the members of the body of Christ. This obliges us to remain united, to support one another and to be able to come into his presence clean and sound in spirit, according to his will.
Let us make Jesus’ words our own: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or family divided against itself will not stand.”
Suggested reading: Nehemiah 3